adamcordner's reviews
56 reviews

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm probably rating this higher than it deserves but I'm a sucker for gay werewolf fun. The whole novel is a fun, queer, wolfy romp.
The main theme of found family the perfect focus for this werewolf tale.

Unfortunately the pacing felt a bit off throughout, and I think the ending fell apart a little. The Van Helsing stuff felt unnecessary to me and the story definitely could have ended with the main three coming together as a pack to stop Tyler. Still, I can see and appreciate what the idea was.

If you like werewolves I'd recommend this book.

Boys, Beasts & Men by Sam J. Miller

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. Miller taps into a number of meaningful ideas across the collection, most significantly he touches on the queer experience - how it can change us, how it can make us monsters, and how that can be beautiful - and about the collective power of the powerless.

The quality varies from story to story so it's not easy to rate the collection as a whole. Some of the stories definitely left something to be desired. But I do think there's something here for everyone, and I could easily see myself picking up more of Miller's work.

My favourites from this collection are 57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides, Things with Beards, Ghosts of Home, and Angel, Monster, Man. The story told piece by piece between chapters as a framing device also brings everything together nicely.

Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

These characters are the absolute most loveable.

The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

An iconic tale of cosmic horror. The added illustrations are absolutely divine. Baranger has a talent unlike anyone else when it comes deprecating the works of HP Lovecraft.

I Am Not a Wolf by Daniel James Sheehan, Sage Coffey

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funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced